Frederick staples



Feb. 15, 1949.

F. STAPLES C IRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed March 20, 1947 Patented Feb. 15, 1949 CIRCULAR KNrr'rlNG MACHINE Frederick Staples, Leicester, England, assigner to Alfred Bray & Sons Limited, Leicester, England Application March 2o, 1947, seriai No; 735,901

In Great Britain April 15, 19.46

This invention relates to a Circular knitting machine of the rotating cylinder type.

In a well-known construction the drive to the cylinderr is through a pair of relatively large diameter bevel gears of which the driven gear is fast and coaxial with the cylinder whilst the driving bevel gear is fast with a smaller bevel gear driving to a bevel gear at the lower end of a vertical shaft. The latter has a bevel gear at its upper end to mesh with a bevel gear on a horizontal shaft carried by the jack bracket, the drive from the horizontal shaft being for the dial.

It is essential that the drives to the cylinder and dial shall be very accurately set, and for this purpose the relatively small driving bevel gear for the said vertical shaft is adjustably mounted on the relatively large driving bevel gear for the cylinder. But not only is the adjustment relatively inaccessible, but the large num-` ber of gears employed in the two drives tends to introduce unsatisfactory inaccuracy.

It is my main'object to avoid this disadvantage in a very simple manner.

According to the invention, the drive to the dialincludes a gear fast and coaxial with 'the cylinder and in mesh with a gear fast and coaxial with the usual vertical shaft carrying at its upper end a bevel gear to mesh with a bevel gear on the horizontal shaft carried by the jack bracket.

According to-r a further feature, the cylinder, driven through a bevel gear pair, has a coaxial spur gear, fast with it, which drives to a spur gear on the lower end of the said vertical shaft.

According to a still further feature of the invention, fine angular-adjustment means is provided between the said vertical shaft and the bevel gear at its upper end. The fine adjustment means may take the form of a projection on the hub of the bevel gear, lscrew-threaded means bearing upon opposite sides of the projection being engaged with a part fast with the vertical shaft.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure l isa fragmentary sectional elevation of a preferred form of drive, according to the invention, for the cylinder and dial; and

Figure 2 is a cross-section taken on the line 2--2 of Figure 1.

The drawings show part only of the cylinder I2 (I3 representing its axis) mounted in a stationary support I4 through a laterally-acting ball bearing I5.. At I 6 the support is cut away to allow the periphery of a driving bevel gear (not shown) to engage a bevel gear I1, formed integrally with tbe iange I3 of the cylinder I2, in a 10mm. (C1. afs- 28) known manner. Both these gears are preferably spiral bevel gears.

In the present instance I mount on the edge of the flange I8 a ring 20 of spur teeth which mesh with the teeth of a spur gear 2I at the lower end of. the vertical shaft 22. The spur gear 2| is mounted in a recess 23 provided for the purpose in the stationary support I4, and it has a hub 24 held in driving engagement with the spindle or shaft 22 by means of a pin 25.

At the upper end of the spindle is secured a spiral bevel gear .21 which can mesh with a spiral bevel gear 28 on a shaft 29 carried by the jack bracket 30. The other end of the shaft 29 carries a bevel gear 3I to mesh with a bevel gear (not shown) by which the dial is to be driven in an ordinary manner.

32 represents a guard partially enclosing 'the vertical shaft 22 and secured at its lower end upon the support I4. At its upper end itsupports the lower end o-f a collar or sleeve 33 which is pinned at 34 to the shaft 22, the collar having an internal recess as shown to receive the hub of the bevel gear 21. The latter is axially located on the shouldered end of the shaft by means of a screw 35 and washer as shown.

In order to provide for adjustment, part of the periphery of the hub of the bevel gear 21 is recessed, as shown at 31 in Figure 2, to leave a radial projection 38. Against opposite faces of this projection bear the ends of adjustment screws 39, 39 engaged in the Wall of the recessed portion of the collar 33. The screws 39 can be adjusted in the collar, so as accurately to s'et the projection 39 in a pre-determined angular position with respect to the collar, and then locked by means of the nuts 4D.

Normally the jack guard (not shown) covers the bevel gear pair 2l, 28; but the shaft 29 together with the jack guard can be swung upwardly when desired to provide access to the adjustment screws, by means of which the angular position of the dial can be set to within a few thousandths of an inch with respect to that of the cylinder.

What I claim as my' invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

In a circular knitting machine, a rotating cylinder, a ring of coaxial lteeth fast with said cylinder, a vertical shaft, a gear fast with the lower end of said vertical shaft and in mesh with said teeth, a sleeve fast with the upper end of said vertical shaft, a bevel gear having a hub extending into said sleeve, said hub being cut-away to leave a radial projection, and screw-threaded means adjustably carried by said sleeve to coact with opposite faces of said projection whereby tovdispose said bevel gear with a required angularity with 4reference to said vertical Shaft.

FREDERICK STAPLES.

RFRENCES CITED vThe following references are of record in the le of this patent: 

